Monday, 30 November 2009

Yet Another Load Of Absolute Balls…

Parents who teach their own children at home must undergo criminal records checks, say Government education inspectors.

Be honest, who didn’t see this coming?

The estimated 40,000 parents who choose not to send their children to school should be vetted, says Ofsted.

More work (and therefore staff and resources and buildings…) for Ofsted! Who could have predicted they’d go for that…?

Apart from everyone, that is.

It said that parents whose records throw up suspicions should be barred from teaching their own children.

‘Suspicions’. That’s all it takes in the UK USSR…

Vetting to root out any record of violence against children would be by the Criminal Records Bureau.

It would reveal to local authorities parents’ criminal convictions, cautions and warnings, and even information that did not lead to a criminal conviction.

It would also show any unproven complaints noted by the controversial new Independent Safeguarding Authority, set up to vet adults working with other people’s children.

And the natural consequence of this is…?

You guessed it:

Parents who fail the checks could also find themselves receiving attention from child protection social workers.

Well done, Balls. You opened the door to this.

The proposal brought fierce protests from family campaigners.

Norman Wells of the Family Education Trust said: ‘It is sheer madness for Ofsted to suggest that parents should be required to undergo CRB checks to be with their children between the hours of 9am and 3pm from Monday to Friday during term-time.

‘If it is deemed unsafe for children to be with their parents during normal school hours, it is equally unsafe for them to be with their parents in the evenings, at weekends and during the school holidays.’

Well, yes. Don’t think this hasn’t occurred to them.

‘If Ofsted are calling for CRB checks for home-educating parents now, how long will it be before they are demanding that all parents are CRB-checked? ’

About a week, I’d say…

Robert Whelan of the Civitas think-tank said: ‘You can no longer be a parent without a piece of paper from the state. This is a monstrous idea and it shows the danger of taking things to logical extremes.’

There’s a reason they call it a ‘slippery slope’, Robert…

And why am I blaming this Balls-up on Balls, rather than over-zealous civil servants at Ofsted?

Well, here’s the smoking gun:

A Bill from Children’s Secretary Ed Balls already backs the idea of a home-schooling registration scheme where parents must set out a curriculum and allow town hall officials to inspect their homes.

This is just a simple assault on the principle of Home Schooling which they dion't like because they don't control it.But the vetting thing gets worse.In its attempts to abolish NEETS ( not in employment education or training, teenagers ) and massage the unemployment figures,Labour is proposing to "volunteer" All 16-18 year olds for compulsory 'community work' ( for their own well-being of course ). Since this work will usually be around vulnerable persons like kiddies and pensioners those teenagers will ALL have to be checked for perversion by the appalling CRB and worse Independent Safeguarding Authority or the School/College concerned will find themselves not only in breach of the law but liable in the event of one of the teens doing something perverted. It won't stop the pervy teen, it just makes it not the school/colleges fault.

In this way the whole generations will soon come under the screening programme but I doubt if any good will come of it. ( like the pedo nurses from Plymouth who had been vettd by the CRB for some years before their vile crimes were committed ).

I too have wondered about the possibility of mass anymous 'denuciations' of our evil leaders to the CRB and ISA.